


Super Paper Mario: The Return of Chaos

by tinybox



Category: Mario Story | Paper Mario, Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Paper Mario (Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 14:31:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17899901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinybox/pseuds/tinybox
Summary: With the help of his allies, Mario managed to defeat the dark magician Dimentio, saving all worlds from total destruction.Count Bleck, now known as Count Blumiere, reunited with his long lost love.When a sudden new threat arrives on the horizon who can alter reality to fit his needs, they must stop him from finding the location of a place that is said to contain a being of ultimate power.





	1. The Mysterious Mail

_Darkness._   _Nothing but darkness remains._

_And it is very dark indeed. Darker than a pair of black cats coated in black ink living in a deep hole located in the caverns of a cave which no part of has ever seen the light of day._

_There aren't any shadows, because shadows need light, and there isn't any light to begin with._

_There's nothing at all but darkness wrapped in silence._

Then-

_"Well, look what we have here."_

_"..."_

_"I must say, this was kind of fun to watch at first. I really thought you guys had it, you know? Turns out I was way off. My bad."_

_"...."_

_"Don't look at me like that, it wasn't like I could have done anything then. But, uh- now that the entire universe or whatever no longer exists, I think I have enough power to help you out a bit. Maybe even a lot. I'll even do it for free...mostly. No big deal."_

_"What do you say, bud? Wanna save the world for real?"_

_"............................."_

_".................................................."_

_"...............................................................okay."_

 

* * *

  **Mushroom Kingdom**

**Toad Town**

**Weather: Cloudy with a chance of rain**

**4:05 PM**

Our story begins one fine autumn afternoon in Toad Town. Today is Market Day, and the streets are bustling with townsfolk hoping to get the best deals possible. 

"Mushrooms at fifty percent off! Buy four and get a Life Shroom for free!"

"Homemade cider, made with love!"

"Fresh apples! Get 'em now before this guy buys them all!"

Looking among the crowd, it's easy to spot the only two humans there. Mario, hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, and his younger, yet taller, brother Luigi who, while less famous, is a hero in his own right.

Right now, however, neither of them are on any sort of heroic adventure. They, like everyone else, are here to buy groceries.

"Mario, you have the list, right?" Luigi asks, turning to his brother. Mario nods, and hands a yellow sticky note over to Luigi.

"Ummmm....Mario? You sure this is the right list? It's a bit short....you literally only have 'spaghetti' and 'chocolate ice cream' written down...."

Mario nods once more, giving Luigi a thumbs up. 

"Maaaarrriiooo!" Luigi groans, "When we left the house I remember asking if you'd put everything we needed on the list, and you said 'Yes Luigi, I put down all the important stuff.'"

The younger brother sighs. "Well, I think we should probably take advantage of that mushroom sale, and I think we're running low on detergent..."

Before he can continue his train of thought, a koopa wearing a mail uniform runs into Mario, sending him crashing into the ground. 

"Sorry! Sorry!" the koopa calls out, and, without stopping, runs into the crowd and is soon lost from sight.

"Sheesh, can you believe that guy?" Luigi asks, holding out a gloved hand to help Mario up. "You think people would be more careful, especially since it's so busy right now..."

Mario brushing off his overalls, spots something by his feet. 

"What's that, bro? Did you drop something?"

Mario shakes his head, holding out an object for Luigi to see. It's a small package, about the size of both of Mario's gloves, wrapped in cheap, brown paper and tied together with a worn string.

"Does it have a name or something?"

Mario turns the box over in his hands, then nods.

Written on one of the sides, in thin blue handwriting, reads:  **PROPERTY OF** (there looks like there was once a name here, but it has been hastily scratched out with a thick marker.)

**IF FOUND, PLEASE GIVE IT TO KOOPERTON, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO RETURN THIS TO ME.**

**PLEASE DO NOT OPEN.**

"Huh. That's weird. Do you anyone named Kooperton?" Luigi waits until Mario shakes his head in negative before continuing, "This looks like it went through the regular mail system. Maybe if we return it to the Post Office, they'll be able to deliver it again."

Just then, a loud voice cut through the crowd. "ATTENTION! The mushroom sale will be ending in two minutes!"

The cart is quickly swarmed. Luigi sighs. "You know what, why don't you go and deliver that to the Post Office, while I get the groceries."

Mario looks like he's about to disagree, but Luigi continues, "And I know if you're left to get the food, you'll only get the stuff on your 'list', and besides, the Post Office is about to close anyway."

With that, Mario heads off to deliver the mysterious package. 

Luigi looks at the enormous crowd in front of the Mushroom Stall, and gulps. Pulling out a helmet, he crams it onto his head over his famous green hat. 

"Wish me luck," he mutters to himself, and dives into the chaos.

 

* * *

**Kooper's Delivery Service**

**4:15 PM**

"Kooperton? Umm...he's currently not working at the moment, but our other manager is here. Do you have a complaint or issue that you need resolved, sir?" asks the uniformed koopa at the help desk. As she talks, the koopa shifts through a bunch of papers, occasionally pushing a strand of brown hair out of her face. 

Mario shakes his head, holding out the package in question.

"Huh?" The koopa girl pulls out a pair of small red glasses and puts them on. "Hmmm...this does look like it was sent through our mail...although we haven't used that kind of wrapping paper in years...maybe the manager on-duty will be able to help."

She walks through a door marked 'Employees Only' and returns with an older looking goomba sporting a very impressive white mustache.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"Do you know if Kooperton was expecting any mail? This gentleman says this box has a note saying to return to Kooperton if lost. He says one of our employees dropped it."

The older goomba shakes his...head? Entire body?

"None of our employees were supposed to deliver anything to Kooperton today...Must have been another mail carrier. As for Kooperton, I haven't spoken to him in a couple of days. I know he wanted to take some time off, so he's probably at home." 

Turning to face Mario, the goomba asks, "Actually, if you don't mind, could you take that over to Kooperton's house? I hate to ask, but all of our employees are needed for a rather large mail order. Apparently someone is sending another giant cake to Princess Peach, and we need to scan it first to make sure there's no one hidden inside like last time."

When Mario nods, the goomba smiles "Thank you so much. I know this isn't something you usually do, but it's a big help." Turning, he heads back through the door he came from. 

"Actually, I think I might come with," the koopa girl says. "My shift just ended, and besides, Mr. Goombert forgot to give you the address anyway. Besides, I haven't seen my uncle in a couple of days. Is that okay?"

Mario nods. 

"Great! Oh, right, my name's Koopera, by the way."

**Koopera has joined your Party!**

"Nice to meet you. You must be Mario, right? We can head out whenever you want."

* * *

**Toad Town**

**4:25 PM**

Turns out Kooperton's house is on the very outskirts of town, making it a very long walk indeed. 

"My uncle likes being as far away from work as possible. I can't say I blame him. He's been working there for about thirty years now. It's weird, though, I can't think of anyone who would want him to hang onto something like this.I love my uncle, but he'd lose his head if it weren't attached to his body."

Mario nods thoughtfully, hand on his chin in contemplation.

* * *

  **Kooperton's House**

**5:00 PM**

"Whew," Koopera says, wiping her brow. "Sorry we couldn't take a shortcut, but all the pipes in this area are clogged up."

Kooperton's house is small, but looks cozy. The wooden walls are painted a soft, buttery, yellow, the roof tiles are faded blue. In the front of the house is a small garden, but instead of flowers, there are several cacti planted there instead.

Seeing Mario's confusion, Koopera explains, "Uncle says cacti have character. Dunno how he gets them to grow here, but he's always had a green thumb."

Heading up the stairs with Mario behind, she knocks on the door three times.

Silence.

She knocks harder, and this time the door opens, revealing another koopa, this one wearing a pair of brown overalls. "What? Oh, Koopera. Nice seeing you. You need something, or just here to chat?"

Mario holds out the package, and Kooperton's brows lift in surprise. "Oh, that explains it."

"Explains what?" Koopera asks.

"A new neighbor is moving in, a young koopa by the name of Koobert. I've talked to him a bit, he seemed nice, and we got talking about collecting stuff. Said he was a treasure hunter, and I mentioned that I'd been explorer in my younger years, and we had a chat about the various adventures we'd been on. He told me that he had a map that he needed deciphering, and wondered if I knew anything about that."

"So, did you?"

"Sure. I just had to find the book on translating old languages. Took me a couple days, which is why I wasn't at work. Managed to get the parts he wanted translating done, he thanked me, and even paid me for my trouble. He then said he needed to deliver it to someone important, but he was worried about losing the thing, so I agreed that my name would be put on it just in case."

"Did he say who he was delivering it to?"

Kooperton shook his head. "Didn't say. Anyway, I better hold onto this for now. Wouldn't want to let the young lad down."

Mario hands the parcel over to Kooperton, who takes it with a smile. "Thanks for delivering this."

"Well, I better head off too," Koopera admits. "Need to get some studying done for my final exams."

**Koopera has left your Party!**

* * *

**Mario Brothers' House**

**7:05 PM**

"So, how'd it go, bro?" Luigi asks. 

Mario gives him a thumbs up.

"I'm glad it went okay. I even managed to get the deal, although just barely. You remember O'Chunks, right? Well, turns out he's in town with all the former members of Count Bleck- I mean Blumiere. Apparently the Count managed to send them a letter from wherever he is saying he would be visiting Toad Town with Lady Timpani. Said they would be here in a couple of days. It might be nice to see them again, what do you think?"

Mario nods in agreement.

* * *

 

**Kooperton's House**

**11:38 PM**

A loud banging on the door rouses Kooperton from a deep sleep.

"Wuzzat?" 

Crashing sounds come from the living room.

"Who's there?" he calls out, grabbing a nearby lamp.

The sounds stop. 

Kooperton lowers the lamp.

Then, a voice next to his ear. "Well, I can't make this too easy, can I?"

Whirling around, Kooperton has enough time to see a shadowy figure take the mysterious parcel off the bedside table before he is knocked unconscious.

* * *

**???**

"I wonder how my dear old friend is doing right now. Maybe I should pay him a visit..."

 


	2. A New Challenger Approaches

**Mushroom Kingdom**

**Toad Inn**

**Weather: Sunny**

**9:23 AM**

"It's like, totally awesome that the Count's coming back, isn't it?" Mimi says. O'Chunks grins.

"Aye, it will be lovely to see him again, as well as getting to properly meet the lovely lady Timpani." 

The three former minions are all in Mimi's room; Mimi sitting on her bed, is carefully painting her nails, while O'Chunks looks at a travel guide. Nastasia simply stares outside the window, seemingly lost in thought. 

"I bet you're excited as well, Nastasia," Mimi slyly says, only to pout when the other doesn't react to her teasing. O'Chunks, looking between the two, frowns. 

"Nastasia, lass? You've been awfully quiet since we came here. Ya' doing alright?"

"Huh?" Nastasia asks, looking at the two with a now more focused expression. "Yeah, um, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been in a funk for a while," Mimi says, " and it's not like you to be this out of it. You didn't even react when O'Chunks ate an entire one of his gross...'haggyoses', that he smuggled onto the train with him."

"Haggises, Mimi! And it's not disgusting, it's a proud staple of the O'Chunks family dinners! Here, try one!" He waves the food in front of her face.

"Ewwwww, no way! You know,that, actually, like, explains a lot about your personality."

"Please stop arguing, K? We don't want to upset the Count or...Timpani when they get here. We have to be on our best behavior." Nastasia warns, clutching her trusted clipboard even even tighter. 

"Aye aye," O'Chunks promises, giving her a sloppy, yet still sincere, salute. 

Mimi protests, "But Countie already should love us the way we are!", her voice a sing-song whine.

"Ummm...well, we need to be even better than usual, K? We haven't seen him in a while, and he's likely, um...different now that he's married and all that."

The three of them sit in silence for a few moments. O'Chunks is the first the break the silence, exclaiming, "Don't ya worry, Nastasia. No matter what, I'm sure he's still the count we know and love, even if he's a bit different now." 

"Plus, Countie already knows who we are and stuff, it's not like us being fake and stuff is going to fool him."

"...I suppose you're right." 

* * *

**Mushroom Kingdom**

**Wario's Mansion**

**9:54 AM**

Wario, known throughout the land as a greedy treasure hunter, has amassed enough fortune over the years to buy himself an enormous castle, in which he stores his piles and piles of money and jewels. Despite all of his riches, though, he cannot be satisfied with what he has, and is always scheming into order to become even more richer.

This time, he has a perfect plan, but unfortunately this one required him to acquire help from an...outside source.

(Normally he would have sent Waluigi, but Waluigi had proved to be a wild card when it came to success rates. Better leave it to a professional, even if it does cost a bit more.)

"Well, did you get it?" Wario asks, greedily holding out his hands. 

"I was able to obtain the map, however, there seems to be a problem."

The other figure, cloaked in shadows, has no determinable features, aside from a pair of small, pupil-less eyes. Paired with a flat, monotone voice, it's impossible to discern any of the being's emotions. 

"Wha-what do ya mean there's a problem!" Wario fires back, and the other shrugs.

"The map isn't complete. This is only part of it." 

"That's useless! I should've never paid you to do the job for me! I thought you said you could lead me to a legendary treasure, but all I got is a dumb piece of paper!"

"Patience, Sir Wario," the other says, holding their hands up. "While we only have part of the map, that doesn't mean the other portions can't be found. In fact, I believe I know just the thing that will _point_ us in the right direction."

The rage on Wario's face is replaced with confusion. "Uhhh..why did you emphasize your words like that? If it's a pun, it doesn't make sense, and I hate inside jokes. I also hate outside jokes."

"It'll make sense later."

"It better, or I'm going to punch you in whatever passes for that face of yours."

* * *

**Mushroom Kingdom**

**Princess Peach's Castle**

**9:56 AM**

As ruling monarch over the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach has an open door policy for anyone that wishes to speak with her, and tries her best to be a listening ear to all her subjects. In order to do this, though, she must make sure is almost always available to the general public.

Toadsworth, of course, does not like this at all. "My dear, you can't expect to fix everyone's problems! You need to take better care of yourself, and besides, doing this is putting you at risk of being kidnapped!"

Despite his warnings, Princess Peach stands firm on this issue. "I know there are risks," she had said then, "but I cannot allow myself to become isolated from my people. If I were to lock myself away in a high security vault, then perhaps I would be safe, but I would also be a useless ruler."

Truthfully, Peach enjoys talking with her subjects. Sometimes one or two toads may stop by to merely have a chat, and those conversations are usually very interesting, although there have been a few occasions where she has been bored to tears. 

Even the most dull of conversations, however, are nothing compared to the work she is doing right now. 

Staring at the mountain of papers in front of her, Princess Peach can already feel her hands aching. Paperwork is truly the worst, but it is a necessary evil. In order for laws and ordinances to be passed, she must give her approval via signature. 

Contemplating abdicating the throne just out of sheer laziness, a knock interrupts her thoughts of woe and despair. "Come in!"

One of her toad guards enters the room, albeit a bit hesitantly. She recognizes the toad as one of the new guards, apparently still shy when interacting with royalty. Putting on her warmest smile, she asks, "Is there something you need of me? Or are you here simply here to talk? I can make you a cup of tea if you would like, although I'm afraid I'm out of chocolate biscuits. A good friend of mine seems to have eaten them all during his last visit."

The yellow toad seems less worried now. "No..no...I'm...good, but you have a visitor...she said her name was...Mimi? Sorry to bother you..."

"No, you're not bothering me at all. Is she in the main hall? I might as well walk over and see her now."

 

* * *

**Mushroom Kingdom**

**Mario Brothers' Home**

**12:03 PM**

A frantic knocking at the door startles Luigi, making him spill cold tea on the floor. Luckily the mug didn't break. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" he calls out, making his way to the front door. The frantic knocking only seems to get louder. When he opens the door, the person on the other end bops his nose with their fist.

"Owwww..."

"Omigosh, I'm so sorry, I really am!" In front of him is a young koopa girl, frantically apologizing, hands twisting together in anxiety. 

Wincing, Luigi replies, "It's alright, my nose has gone through worse trauma. Anyway, are you here to see Mario? Sorry, he's out for the day."

"Do you know when he'll be back? It's an emergency!"

"I don't know, but maybe, um, maybe I can help...um..."

"Koopera. Look, my uncle's been kidnapped, and I just know it had to do with the strange package Mario and I delivered to him yesterday. He said it was old map that he was asked to translate by his neighbor."

 _One Brief Explanation Later..._  

"Listen, I'm no Mario, but I'll try to help the best I can. Actually, I think the koopa who bumped into my brother at the Market Place was the neighbor your uncle spoke of. I remember him wearing a mail uniform... I think it was from Kooper's Delivery Service."

"Wait, I remember now!" Koopera exclaims. "I work there, and one of the employees was complaining that their uniform had been stolen..."

Luigi goes to pat her shoulder, then stops midway. "Um...I can go look for my bro and bring him back here. Might take a little bit, since he didn't leave a note, but I know he's still in the town somewhere..."

Koopera nods, then shakes her head. "I can't just wait here, I need to find Mario. You can come with me, or not, but you're the only one who might have an idea where he is. Can you help me?"

"Alright."

**Koopera has joined your Party for real this time!**

**Koopera's Ability: Primer  
**

**Press X to trigger Koopera's Shell Hop Ability, then release it to send her across the screen.**

**With this Ability, she can skip across and around various obstacles. In battle, she can use this ability to hit multiple airborne enemies. Press B just before hitting each enemy in order to jump to next one. If you do not press B, the attack will stop.**

* * *

 

**Mushroom Kingdom**

**Smoothie Shack**

**12:14 PM**

"Um...so, I got a message from the Count, K? He and...Timpani agreed to meet us here...where's Mimi?" Nastasia looks around the small establishment frantically, hoping that the girl would appear out of nowhere. "Mimi, if you're disguised as someone, please...this isn't the time..." She paces back and front near the front door nervously, her usually calm composure looking as though it's barely hanging on a thread.

O'Chunks scratches his head. He's sitting on a bar stool, which looks comically small under his rather bulky frame. "Do you have any beef milkshakes?"

The toad behind the counter clearly has no idea what to do with the strange, oddly smelling, man. "Sir, we only sell fruit and mushroom smoothies."

"Alrighty then."

O'Chunks then turns to Nastasia, worry etched into his face. "Lass, don't worry about Mimi. She's got a good head on her shoulders...and...oh wait! I remember now! She told me to tell you that she was going to see that Princess Pinch."

"You mean Peach," she habitually corrected, before his words sunk in. "I can't believe she would do this, especially since the Count is due to arrive at any moment...did I forget to tell her before she left...I must have...this is going to be a disaster!" 

The door-chimes jingle merrily, and Nastasia whirls around. It's not the Count or his wife, instead, it's a very familiar plumber.

"Maria!" O'Chunks calls out, before correcting himself. "Sorry, right, you're not Maria, yer Mario. Sorry 'bout the whole mix-up."

Mario nods, giving O'Chunks a thumbs up, before jumping once.

"You saw us while you were walking by and wanted to say hello? That's...it's very nice to see you again, Mario." 

Mario gestures towards Nastasia, his expression concerned. "I'm quite alright, just a tad...frazzled. The Count will be here any moment, and Mimi didn't get my memo to show up, and I don't even know what to say..."

O'Chunks swings himself off the stool. "You don't need to worry, Tasia. It's going to be okay, I swear, or my name isn't O'Chunks! Swear on me mum!"


	3. Old Friends; New Foes

**Mushroom Kingdom**

**Smoothie Shack**

**12:24 PM**

The shop doorbell jingles. "Count!" O'Chunks calls out, "Over here!", waving frantically as if the establishment was much larger and crowded with people. Since they're the only ones here, save the employees, it's doubtful that the Count...no, Blumiere, didn't spot him. Behind Blumiere stands a young woman, clearly...Timpani. Nastasia wrings her hands together. She doesn't know what to say or do now that she's face to face with...

O'Chunks seems to have no problem with greeting Blumiere, grabbing him in an enthusiastic hug before gently settling him down. Timpani giggles, and the former Count appears slightly dazed. When they'd been working for Count Bleck, none of them had really done stuff like...hugging, or even really shaking hands. 

But Blumiere...he looks happy. Happy to be here, happy to be with his wife. "Um...nice to see you C-Blumiere," Nastasia says, hoping the nervousness doesn't show in her voice. 

Blumiere smiles at her. "Nastasia, O'Chunks! It pleases me greatly to see the both of you again."

Timpani waves, grinning broadly. "It's nice to see you all, especially since I'm not a butterfly and the world isn't ending."

She's oddly...blunt, but in a somewhat endearing fashion. 

Timpani rushes forward and hugs Mario tightly. "Mario! I thought I'd never see you again! It's great to see you."

Mario clearly shares the same sentiments, hugging Timpani briefly before letting her go. Blumiere, meanwhile, looks around the room, as though searching for something. "Is Mimi here?" he asks.

Nastasia quickly says, "No, but she must have not received my memo updating her on the situation. I've been trying to contact her, but..."

"Do not worry about it," Blumiere assures her. "I'm sure Mimi will return when she is ready. In the meantime, why don't we all talk? I'm sure that many things have happened to us all since we last saw each other."

* * *

 

**Mushroom Kingdom**

**Peach's Castle**

**12:25 PM**

"And that's when the conductor told him, 'sir, we don't allow outside food on the train,' and I was so relieved I wanted to kiss him because I was the one stuck sitting nest to O'Chunks with his nasty smelling food, and I swear Nastasia did it on purpose, because she's never the one who has to sit next to him whenever we go anywhere."

Peach giggles. "I can imagine, although I'm guilty when it comes to garlic bread. I could eat a whole basket in one sitting, and my breath smells just plain awful afterwards."

"Ewwww...garlic bread is bad for your figure, at least according to  _Diet Daily_. You really should get a subscription, the advice column is run by someone named Chatty Cathy and she's my new hero."

* * *

 

**Toad Town**

**12:30 PM**

"Hmmm..." Luigi says, "He's not at the spaghetti place, which is odd, because usually he heads here first."

Koopera fiddles with her ponytail. "Did you guys talk about anywhere in particular last night?"

Luigi shrugs. "Not really. I just mentioned I saw O'Chunks at the market, and that he and his friends were staying at the Inn...wait! Mario must have gone to see them! I bet they're at the Inn right now!"

Koopera nods, face determined. "Then we better head there!"

 

* * *

**Smoothie Shack**

**12:37 PM**

Blumiere stares at the beverage in front of him, gaze uncertain. "Are you sure this is...drinkable?"

The toad behind the counter crosses his arms, clearly annoyed. "All our smoothies are made with love and compassion and the finest fruits in the entire universe, and once you drink it your mind will be transported to an alternate reality filled with rainbows and moonbeams." 

 The former count takes a sip. "This is...alright."

The toad beams. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about my drinks!"

Mario takes a sip out of his own smoothie, and his face briefly spasms in disgust. O'Chunks downs his in one gulp, as does Timpani, both clearly not having any functional taste buds.

Timpani turns to Nastasia. "I never really got to know you all properly. Umm...my name's Timpani, but you already knew that." 

Nastasia, looking at her shoes, mutters, "Oh, yeah, nice to meet, I mean, see, you." 

Blumiere doesn't seem to notice the awkwardness, and neither does Mario, although O'Chunks looks between the two, clearly trying to figure out what's going on. Timpani smiles at O'Chunks, holding out a hand for him to shake. "It's nice to see you as well, O'Chunks."

O'Chunks shakes her hand a little less vigorously than usual. "Nice ta see you again too," he grins. 

Before any of them can continue talking, the ground starts rumbling under their feet.

"What the-" the toad squeaks, ducking under the counter.

Outside the sky is growing dark at an unnatural rate.

"This does not seem...normal," Blumiere states, expression worried. 

Mario peers through the glass window. The town square appears empty, save for a singular figure obscured in shadows. He points towards the person, and the others turn. 

"Blimey, do you think he's the one behind all this?"

Nastasia, flipping through her notepad, shakes her head, but then reconsiders. "It could be...unless it's just coincidence."

Mario jumps once, before heading out the door, O'Chunks right behind him. Now the humanoid figure is raising their arms to the sky, faint streams of magic circling around them. The rest of them follow a bit more hesitantly. 

Now that they've left the building, all of them feel a sudden chill in the air, a sharp cold that cuts through the skin and settles in your bones. 

"Are you sure about this?" Blumiere asks, "this person may not..."

The being turns to face them.

Although vaguely humanoid in shape, they resemble a living shadow, their body is made up solely of darkness. They almost don't look an actual being, instead, it looks at though the area where they're standing has simply ceased to exist.

"Do not...interrupt me..."

"Who the heck are you?" Timpani exclaims, but the person ignores her. Mario leaps towards the figure, but somehow crashes next to them, missing the being entirely. 

"I demand you tell us who you are!" Blumiere shouts, and O'Chunks chimes in with a hearty, "That's right, you coward!"

Nastasia doesn't say anything at all. Her hands are trembling.

"I..am...Nihil," the newly identified Nihil rasps, their voice a soft whisper that still manages to echo throughout the area. "I will restore the world to what it should have been."

O'Chunks calls "Yer going to get a chunking for this!" and rushes at Nihil, only to run through them as if they were nothing but smoke. "Eh?"

Nihil raises their arms. "simul...duo..mundos!"

Everything starts warping around them, reality shifting and melting beneath their feet.

Then...

Darkness.

* * *

 


	4. The Reality of the Situation

**Area Unknown**

"...wake up!" Mario is jolted into awareness, arms pinwheeling as he struggles to fully wake up.

Looking around in confusion, he's still not entirely convinced that this isn't some fever dream caused by that awful drink. The main square looks as though it has collided with a much darker world, and somehow meshed together. In some patches, the houses look normal, and the sky is clear. But most of the place is covered in darkness, all the buildings inside those areas are now gone, instead replaced with...wait, this is familiar.

He's been to this place before!

"Mario!" Timpani calls out, shaking the plumber out of his stupor. "I recognize these areas! This looks like part of the Underwhere!"

She's crouched beside him, as though she had been checking to make sure he was still alive. Getting up, Mario sees that there seems to be no sign of O'Chunks or Nastasia. Not too far away is Blumiere, who seems to be focusing far off into the distance.

He nods in agreement; this certainly looks like the Underwhere meshed together with Toad Town. "That strange man must have done this...but why? If his goal was to travel to the Underwhere, there's already a door that leads directly to it. Why would he bring parts of it here?" She shakes her head in confusion. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Blumiere heads over to them. "There's strange magic here. I can sense the dead walking among us."

Timpani shudders. "This isn't good."

"I can sense the source of the power," Blumiere says, brow furrowing,"it seems to be north of where we are. Perhaps if we head towards the signal, we'll find the person who's behind all of this."

* * *

 

**???**

_"So...I was thinking, maybe I shouldn't do this for free after all. I mean, I'm literally giving you a second chance here."_

_"..."_

_"All I want is something that will soon become worthless to you anyway."_

_"..."_

_"I knew you'd agree."_

* * *

 

**Princess Peach's Castle**

"...and that's when I realized I wasn't cut out for astrology," Mimi concludes.

Peach, daintily shoveling a handful of tortilla chips into her mouth, nods.

That's when it happens. Everything

**s**

**h**

**u**

**d**

**d**

**e**

**r**

**s**

"Did you feel that?" Peach asks in concern.

Mimi looks around the room. Everything appears normal. "Nope." 

"It was like...something shifted around us..."

Mimi pursed her lips. "I mean, everything seems okay, but...it's a lot colder now, isn't it?"

"Maybe it's that. I'll close the window."

* * *

 

**Area Unknown**

One moment, they had been standing outside the _Pasta Palace: Serving all your pasta needs!_ The next, they were... Well, the building's still here, Koopera thinks, but everything else is wrong.

"...Is it just me," she asks, "or does everything look some kind of weird video games?" 

The entire world around them has turned into pixels. Both of them appear normal (thank goodness!), but everything else is made of tiny boxes stuck together. 

Luigi appears to be in shock. "I....uh...um...yeah...you're right! But...where are we?" He looks around, spotting only grass, and a pale blue sky dotted with clouds. The air smells sweet, and the sun is warm, and it would have been a lovely spot for a picnic if they weren't lost in the middle of nowhere.

"Luigi?" A voice calls from inside the restaurant. It's a red-hatted toad, trembling furiously. "Ummm...ummm...what are we going to do?" 

Putting on his brave face, he channels his inner Mario, and responds, "Don't worry. We'll figure things out. While this is a...pretty crazy situation, me and my bro have been in _way_ worse places than this. Trust me, this is just a walk in the park."

The toad doesn't seem comforted by his words, and retreats further away from the door. 

Koopera pats him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm terrible at reassuring people too."

Luigi sighs. "Do you think I should start wearing red? Mario's always good at making people feel better, even without saying anything at all." 

"It wouldn't suit you."

"Figures."

* * *

**Area Unknown**

As the start walking towards the north, the patches of the Underwhere become more and more prominent, until it's like they've stepped into that world altogether.

   
Blumiere's prediction of feeling the dead walk around proves to be correct with they spot their first shayde.

Unlike all the other ones Mario has ever seen, this one is lying prone on the ground.

"Is that..." he trails off.

Mario nods.

"That's a shayde, we saw them in the Underwhere. People get turned into them when their game ends, I guess." She shudders slightly. "Sorry, it's just...being forced to change forms...I feel..."

Blumiere wraps his arms around her. "Do not worry, my love. Your days of being a butterfly are at an end."

Mario approaches the slumped body of the shayde. It's eyes are closed, seemingly fast asleep...but...something about the faint rising and falling of their chest seems...

It hits him like a hammer to the head. Shaydes don't breathe. They don't NEED to breathe, and as far he knows, they CAN'T breathe. So why is this one breathing?

Blumiere and Timpani approach him. "Is something the matter?" Blumiere asks, but Timpani seems to understand when he points at the shayde. 

"They're breathing..."

Blumiere stares in shock at the sleeping shayde. 

"Was this what you meant, Blumiere?"

"It makes sense...the dead are literally becoming alive...but I..."

"Whoever cast this spell must be very powerful indeed. The Dark Prognosticus had a chapter about reanimating the dead, but even that wasn't a spell to truly bring them back. It's why I did not use it to...because it would have meant living with a nothing but a shell."

All of them fall into an uncomfortable silence.

Shaking his head as though to rid it of his earlier thoughts, Blumiere continues with, "We should keep going before this spell fails."

"...Alright."

 

They continue heading north, encountering more sleeping shaydes along the way. Despite all their attempts at waking one of them up, nothing seems to work, not even Mario's tried and true method of hitting something with a hammer or jumping on it.

For once, his two main methods of problem solving have failed. 

They're walking through what looks like what must have once been a town; there are still roads, which alongside sit crumbling foundations of buildings. 

Everything is eerily silent, save for the crunching of their feet on the graveled road.

Suddenly Timpani stops.

"Did you hear that?" 

Mario looks confused, and Blumiere starts to say something before he is quickly hushed. 

Off in the distance they hear what seems like someone talking. 

"It ____ wou___ ______"

All of them follow the source of the sound, which leads them to one of the few remaining buildings still standing, a crumbling two-story house. 

"You...fight...but...you will give in...you will tell me what you know..."

All of them recognize the voice immediately.

Nihil. 

"He's talking to someone," Timpani breathes.

They creep around the side of the house. Standing in the backyard is Nihil, talking to a figure crumpled on the ground who is clearly trying to get back up.

"Your...magic...is useless now..."

The three of them look at each other, and without saying a word, all think the same thing:  _we have to help._

Mario rushes out, leaping towards Nihil. Unlike earlier, when O'Chunks crashed through him, this time he actually manages to kick the other in the head. 

No matter how powerful or deadly someone is, a blow to the head is certainly not pleasant. Nihil staggers for a moment, which gives Blumiere enough time to trap him in a circle of green flames. Behind Blumiere is Timpani, clearly adding her own magic to make the spell stronger. 

Nihil does not seem phased at all. "Unfortunate for you," he speaks toward the still struggling figure, "but your cavalry has arrived."

With that, he vanishes. 

"How...but..." Blumiere gasps, the spell already taking a toll on his energy. "I put everything I had into this containment spell, and it still was not enough!"

"...heh...heh...of course..." Timpani says through heavy breaths. "Already...we know that he is more powerful than anyone we have ever seen.." 

The person they had just saved is still obscured by darkness, crouching low against the ground. 

"We've come to help," Blumiere says. "I am Blumiere, this is my wife Timpani, and that is Mario. Please, we mean you no harm."

"...."

Then the person stands, and they hear the sound of someone chuckling. 

"I very much doubt that, my dear count," laughs Dimentio, stepping out of the shadows.

"You!" Blumiere shouts. 

"Me..." 

Blumiere rushes forward and grabs the jester by the throat, growling, "I should have known you would have figured out a way to come back...was this your doing as well?"

Dimento wheezes, clearly unable to breathe

Timpani puts an arm on her husband's shoulder, shakes it. "Blumiere! You're going to kill him!"  
The grip around Dimentio's neck must have lightened, because the magician is now gasping for deep lungfuls of air.

Mario looks at the jester thoughtfully. In many ways, Dimentio looks very much the same, save for a long crack along the top of his mask that stretches out to the left eyehole. 

"What did Nihil want from you?" Timpani asks. 

"...he wanted to know something that I did not wish to tell him..." Dimentio finally says, continuing with "as for everything else...I am connected to all of this as a swan is related to a hippo, which in case you didn't understand, means I have nothing to do with this at all."


	5. The Marvelous Magician

**Area Unknown**

Blumiere reluctantly let go of Dimentio, who pulls himself up. Strangely, he does not use his magic to float, and now that he's standing face to face with all of them, he's revealed to be surprisingly short, only a little taller than Mario himself.

Dimentio brushes imaginary lint off of his clothes. "You don't believe me," the magician states in a bored fashion. 

"Answer me," Blumiere demands, "are you working with that being?" 

Dimentio sighs. "Yes, of course I am, that's why he tried to torture me for information," his voice dripping with obvious sarcasm. "But, to be fair, I wouldn't believe me either."

Mario shakes his head. 

"You can't be trusted," Timpani cuts in, "you may have been able to fool us all once, but not anymore."

"..."

Blumiere stares directly into Dimentio's face. "What did Nihil want with you?"

"...nothing much, my dear former count. He merely wanted to know how to find something, and I told him..."

Mario tilts his head in confusion.

"Well, what did you tell him! Spit it out!" Blumiere demands, eyes narrowed in barely contained fury. Timpani, also on edge, looks as though at any moment she could spring into action.

"Well, he mistakenly assumed that I would be grateful for his...gift and would want to return the favor, which as you can see, I did not agree to. As for that, I bid you farewell. Ciao, my dear former count, may we never meet again." 

Instead of using his magic to disappear like he normally would have done, Dimentio simply turns on his heels and tries walking away. Suffice to say, he does not get very far before Blumiere grabs him by the cuff of his shirt and drags him back.

* * *

**Princess Peach's Castle**

When Peach went to close the window, she gasps. Mimi looks at her in concern. 

"Um...pinky? You alright there?"

"Mimi...come over here! Outside...there's nothing!"

Mimi walks over to Princess Peach and peers out the window, only to see nothing but inky blackness. "I can't see anything...weird."

She sticks her head out of the window. "Omigosh! The castle's floating!" 

Looking down, Peach can see Mimi is indeed correct. Aside from the ground that the castle itself is built on, as well as a few feet from the castle itself, there's nothing but a void of darkness surrounding them.

Squaring her shoulders, Princess Peach firmly states, "I need to check on the Toads, they must be frightened beyond belief. Mimi, can you help me?"

Mimi gives her the stink eye. "What did you think I was going to do? Stand around and read my gossip magazine? Actually, that's something I would do. But I'm here for you Peach, you know?"

"Thanks Mimi."

"Ugh, don't read too much into it."

* * *

**Unknown Area**

Exploring the area around them, Luigi and Koopera soon came across a very wide river, the 8-bit currents rushing madly. "Do you think it's cross-able?" Koopera asks. Luigi shrugs, before picking up a small green block from the ground, and tosses it into the water.   
Immediately it is rushed away by the currents.

"...I guess we'll have to head back." Luigi sighs.

"Wait-do you that castle over there?" She points to what looks a castle far apart in the distance. "Maybe there's someone living in there who can help us out!"

"Hmmmm...but we need a way to cross, and I don't see anything."Luigi worries. "And I don't think we should travel too far from the line of sight of the pasta place."

Koopera reluctantly nods, before brightening up. "Wait, I have an idea!" Retreating into her shell, she takes off towards the river. Like a skipping stone, she jumps across to the other side easily.

She waves at him from the other side. Then she does the same thing and returns to Luigi's side. "Okay, I have an idea on how you can cross, too. Stand on my shell."

"Now?"

She rolls her eyes slightly. "Not until I get into my shell. Then hold on tight."

Retreating into her shell, Koopera waits, but Luigi hesitates. "Won't this hurt you?"

"My shell can withstand a Thwomp falling on it. Don't worry about it."

Carefully, Luigi stands on her shell, gripping it tightly.

"Ready...set..go!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Luigi screams as he's thrown forward, barely able to hang on. Every time Koopera's shell comes into contact with the water, he feels as though he's going to be tossed off from the jolting impact.

After what feels like an eternity, they make it safely to the other side. Luigi falls to the ground, shuddering and shaking, his stomach rolling like a meatball down a hill. 

"I think I might throw up..." the plumber groans.

"I'm sorry about that," she apologizes, looking at Luigi in concern. "I had to go a bit faster to account for the weight difference."

 She pats him on the back. When his stomach stops rolling, Luigi gets up. "I'm fine. Let's get going."


	6. Strange New Worlds

**Princess Peach's Castle**

Mimi and Princess Peach search the castle from top to bottom to no avail, even with Mimi transforming herself into a toad herself to access the more hard to reach places.

"Are you sure everyone's not, like, on strike?" Mimi asks, though her tone is doubtful.

Peach shakes her head. "No, I would have known. Besides, we just saw Antoad a few moments earlier when he asked where to store the cake."

"Oh, yeah, and you told him he could have a slice or two. Hey, why didn't you give me any cake?" Mimi pouts, mock stamping her foot on the ground with a giggle.

"Don't you hate strawberries? This cake's basically a giant strawberry shortcake."

"Don't try to reason with me logically."

For a moment, everything is normal once again. Then the situation hits them once more.

"There's one place we haven't checked," Princess Peach reluctantly says.

"...yeah." Mimi agrees. "Outside."

"I doubt the toads would have fled outdoors, but...I made a vow to keep my subjects safe. Even if there's only a single toad out there, they're still my responsibility." She states, posture stiff. "Okay," Peach continues, "I'll go out, while you man the fort here."

"No way! I'm going with you, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Peach sighs. "I figured you were going to say that. Very well, let's go, but don't blame me if you fall over the edge into the gaping darkness below."

"...I make no promises."

* * *

**Pixel World**

The castle turned out to be not that far from the river, relatively speaking. As they approached, both of them saw the castle had been much bigger than they had thought it would be. 

"Woah..." Luigi gasps in awe. 

Built out of various grey and black blocks, the castle towers over their heads. Around the castle is a moat filled with water, but the drawbridge is lowered, making it possible to enter through the front door. 

"Alright, I guess we just knock?" Koopera says hesitantly. Heading across the wooden drawbridge, she raps firmly on the wooden door.

No response.

"Try opening it," Luigi suggests. Koopera turns the knob. 

"It's locked."

"Maybe there's a key somewhere?" Luigi suggests weakly. 

"Doubt it."

Their problem is solved for them when the castle doors swing open, revealing...

It looks like a toad, kind of. But it's made up of tiny blocks, like some sort of pixelated character. To be honest, Luigi thinks, it's kind of unnerving, yet strangely familiar...

"Ummm...hello?" the toad asks, sounding vaguely annoyed.

Koopera doesn't blame them. "Sorry to bother you, but we're lost, and I don't know how we got here."

The toad blinks, or at least, the two different dark spots making up his eyes disappear briefly. "Wait...that's what the other guy said too..come to think of it, you're just as weird looking too! Wait...that was rude, wasn't it? I'm so sorry, I'm trying to work on being more polite, but sometimes I can be a bit...awkward."

"I'm not weird looking," Luigi mumbles to himself.

"Who's the person that's with you? Are they a koopa, by any chance?" Koopera asks, ignoring the poorly phrased description.

The toad now brightens. "Actually, yes! Said his name's Kooperton."

"Uncle!"

"Oh, you're family? Come in, he's in the dining hall right now."

"Wait," Luigi asks, "what's your name?"

The toad turns around. "Sorry about that, how rude of me! The name's Toadily. Anyway, follow me!"

The two of them head into the castle after the toad, the front doors swinging shut behind them.

Now that they're inside, Luigi now sees that the castle interior is very plain, mostly just square pixels with varying shades of grey .

"Nice place you got here,"Koopera comments, trying to be polite. 

In all honesty, this place kind of creeps her out.

"It's terrible, I know," Toadily says with a resigned tone in his voice. "But I got it cheap after Bowser left, so that's a win-win!"

"Wait-" Luigi starts, only to be interrupted by Toadily. 

"Here we are!" 

They're standing at the entrance to a medium sized room with a long table at the far end. Sitting at one of the ends of the table, is a familiar looking koopa.

"Uncle!" Koopera cries out, rushing towards him.

Kooperton turns and grabs her in a hug, before letting go. "Koopera, how did you get here? Were you taken by that creature too?"

Koopera shakes her head. "I don't think so...but wait, were you really kidnapped?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear. Guess I'm not as agile as I used to be." He sighs mournfully.

"Um...excuse me, sir, but did you get a close look at whoever took you?" Luigi asks.

"Kind of. I saw what looked to be a human figure made entirely of shadows...but since this was after I got hit on the head I can't be quite sure of what exactly I saw. What I do know is that they took part of the map, the one I had translated."

"Why didn't they take the whole thing?" Luigi wonders, hand idly stroking his 'stache. 

"Because I didn't have it! That's the only piece that Koobert had found."

"Wait," Luigi asks, "can you run that by me again? Who's Koobert?"

_Another Quick Explanation_

"So, your neighbor only found that section, and needed you to translate?" Luigi confirms. Kooperton nods.

"Uncle, you said you translated it, right? Did you write the translation directly onto the paper?"

"No, but I copied it down on a piece of paper. That fiend must have taken that one as well."

"Can you remember what it said?" Koopera asks, and Kooperton grins.

"I can do a bit better than that! I actually have another copy that I made just in case I lost the first one." He pulls out some papers from his shell, and hands them over to Koopera.

"Let's see..." Both of them scan the writings.

**one piece shall lead to another, but none of them will fully reveal without my intervention. i shall take this to my grave, so no one will be able to torture this secret out of me.**

"Then there was something that looked like a signature, but it was so badly smudged I couldn't read a lick of it." 


	7. The Deal

**Pixel World**

**Toadily's Castle**

"Hang on," Luigi asks, "how exactly does a piece of map tell you where another piece of the map is?"

Kooperton grins. "The map piece I found was double sided. On the back there were a note about the next area the piece could be, but none of this places seemed to actually exist...wait! I remember now!"

"What is it, Uncle?" Koopera asks. 

"The place mentioned sounds an awful lot like this world! I think it said... **in a land of bits and blocks...by the riverside castle.** "

"That _does_ sound like this world," Luigi confirms. and Koopera nods in agreement.

"I brought you guys some tea!" Came a voice from the door. Luigi started, whirling around to see that it was just the toad from before, holding what looked like rendered version of a plate with a single mug on it.

"Toadily?" Luigi asks, "Do you know anything about a map piece that could be hidden in here?"

Toadily, placing the plate on the table, shrugs his pixelated shoulders. "Not really, although I haven't really explored the deeper parts of the castle. I do know that there are a lot of traps down there, so I would avoid that place like the plague."

"Do you think there could be part of the map down there?" Koopera asks, and is met with another shrug. 

To Luigi, she says, "Whoever stole the piece of map from my uncle obviously wanted to use it for nefarious means. No doubt he'll use it to find this one."

"So...what do we do now?"

"We can do the smart thing, or the dumb thing. The smart thing is to do nothing, but...I have a feeling it'll end up badly in the end."

"Wait," Luigi interrupts, "if it's hidden in some dangerous place, maybe it's already safe where it is? Besides, what exactly does this map lead to?"

"Hmmmm..." Toadily says, "I think there's actually a book somewhere about it, hang on..." leaving the room briefly, he returns with a large blue book.

Flipping through it, he stops on a page, and reads, "The map was torn into eight pieces by the hero, and flung into different worlds, making sure that those pieces would not be able to leave their world. Thus, the map would never be put together, and no one would be able to awaken the dark creature sealed within the earth."

"So, if this is the map piece, whoever brought all the pieces together would be lead right to the place where some terrible monster is?"

"Alright, that makes sense," Luigi says.

"Alright, let's get going!" Kooperton says cheerfully. He gets up only to wince slightly. 

"Uncle?"

"I'm fine! Just a bit of shell crack. I'll slap a bandage on it and it'll be good to go!" Kooperton says, to the disbelief of Koopera.

"Are you kidding me! You're in no place for going anywhere! Remember last time?"

"...I suppose you're right," he concedes, settling back down.

"I want to help too!" Toadily tells them. "I can look up anything you need to know, and I think I'll be able to get you places you couldn't get before!"

**Toadily has joined your party!**

**Toadily's Ability: Primer**

**Press B to trigger Toadily's Tattle Ability while next to someone, and he'll let you know all about them. You can also use Tattle to get some advice on what you might need to do next.**

**In battle, his Tattle Ability is useful in finding your enemies' weaknesses, or you can use his Pixel Punch which has a chance of confusing your foes.**

* * *

  **Area Unknown**

"You don't have to  _sit_ on me, I understand perfectly clear that I am stuck more than a student in an unfamiliar quiz," Dimentio complains.

Mario, sitting on Dimentio's stomach, shakes his head.

"If you kill me now, you'll never know why I was brought here." Dimentio gasps.

Timpani looks at Blumiere worriedly. "Perhaps.."

Blumiere shakes his head. "Dimentio, why were you brought here? Answer now, or..."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" Wheezing out a sarcastic laugh, the magician continues with, "You're already a bit too late."

Mario, getting up, makes a gesture at Dimentio, clearly confused.

Dimentio also stands up, and none of them do anything to stop him.

"Do you know why Nihil did this?" Timpani asks.

Dimentio taps the side of his mask thoughtfully. "In a way, yes. He wanted to bring me back to life, so he brought the entire Underwhere here, as well as a few other worlds as well."

"Why?" Blumiere questions, gaze focused intently on the magician, eyes daring him to make a sudden false move. 

"Wait, why did he want to bring you back?" Timpani chimes in.

Mario jumps up several times. "Right," Timpani says, "we have to find Nihil before he causes any more damage."

Dimentio sighs. "So, can I leave now?" His voice is resigned, as if he already knows the answer before Blumiere says, "No. We won't allow you to use this opportunity now that you're free from the Underwhere. You'll be coming with us, and you will tell everything you know about Nihil, including where to find him."

"..."

"Mario's right, are you sure we can trust him?" Timpani asks, gaze suspicious. Blumiere shakes his head.

"No. But we have few options left, and neither does he."

"Alright, Dimentio, deal?" Blumiere asks, holding out one hand for Dimentio to shake.

Dimentio takes the former count's hand and they both shake on it.

"Very well, my dear _Count Bleck_. For lack of anything better to do, I shall take you to the place that Nihil is also heading."


	8. Totally Safe

**Princess Peach's Castle**

**Exterior**

"This kind of reminds me of Countie's dimension," Mimi remarks, "what with all the darkness surrounding this place."

Peach nods absentmindedly, scanning for any sight of her subjects, trying not to think of the oppressing void all around them, and failing miserably. "This place...it's much worse." Peach mutters.

She and Mimi are exploring around the outside area surrounding the castle that's still there, on the alert for anyone else that is also trapped here and might need help. So far, they've encountered no other living beings besides themselves and various plant life. "I'm glad I'm not wearing heels, walking around on the grass can be a real pain sometimes." Princess Peach confides to Mimi.

"I did notice you were a little shorter, but I didn't mention it because I didn't want you to feel bad," Mimi teases.

Peach snickers. "You're one to talk."

 "Are you calling me short?" Mimi demands, hands on her hips.

Without even glancing at her, Peach dryly states, "Yes."

They've walked about halfway around the castle, and are now approaching the royal gardens in the back. "At least the flowers look okay," Mimi comments, "they're not even drooping or whatever from lack of sunlight. Wait, how come everything around the castle is normally lit? We're literally surrounded by darkness, and it's not like the castle lights are _that_ bright."

Peach shrugs. "We can worry about it later."

Peach's garden isn't  _that_ big, but the flowering bushes are perfect places for a wayward toad to hide in. "Hello?" Princess Peach calls out, "is anyone here?"

No response. 

"Let's split up," Peach suggests, "we won't be out of sight from each other but we'll be able to cover more ground."

"That sounds like a bad idea, but sure, why not?"

 

* * *

**Toadily's Castle**

At first, the journey downwards is relatively easy, all they have to do is walk down a spiraling staircase. "I've been down here before." Toadily explains, "but nowhere beyond the door at the bottom."

"What's down there anyway?" Koopera asks, voice interested. 

"Well, I know there are Bowser's minions, that's for sure. While a lot of them left when Bowser did, some chose to stay instead. I think there might be some traps as well, but uh..they were made so Bowser's minions wouldn't get stuck in them, and they're pretty stupid as is, so I don't think we'll have any problems with the traps."

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, they approach a giant red door with a large pixel lock attached to it. Producing a enormous key, Toadily explains, "I've had this for a while, but never really felt like using it until now."

"Makes sense," Luigi says.

Placing the key in the lock, the pixel toad turned the key. A clicking noise was made, before the door swung open. 

"Huh, this wasn't what I was expecting," Koopera says in confusion. "It's just a really long hallway. Is that it?"

Toadily looks surprised. "I guess I was worked up for nothing? All this time and it was perfectly safe?"

"Whew." Luigi breathes. "Glad to find that out."

The three of them head down the long hallway with a bit more confidence in their steps.


	9. Fungus Among Us

**Unknown Area**

"..."

"Do you doubt my words? I promised that I would lead you to where Nihil is heading."

"No, I mean, what are you doing?" Timpani asks. Blumiere also looks confused. 

The magician turns around, eyebrows raised."I'm...walking? You do know what walking is...unless your brains have scrambled completely like breakfast eggs on a concrete sidewalk." 

"Never mind," Blumiere butts in, keeping a wary eye on Dimentio. "If you wish to make this more difficult, very well. Go on then, why don't you lead the way?"

"...Very well then, my dear  _former_ Count. You see the town we are in? Well, think of it as a mushroom. What you see is only the fruit, while the actual fungi is hidden below."

The three of them stare at Dimentio. "What do you mean?" Timpani asks. Dimentio sighs, and gestures to the house behind him.

It's the only building that's still fully intact, though that doesn't make it any less decrepit. Towering six stories high, lined with numerous windows (all of which have been boarded up), it tilts unevenly towards the left like the sagging mouth of an old person.

"This is the house where the entrance to the underground is located," he tells them. "Down in the city below is the map piece."

With that, Dimentio trots through the yard until he reaches the back door. The others reluctantly follow, with Blumiere right behind in case the magician had any funny ideas. 

Twisting the knob, it opens easily under the jester's gloved hands. Pulling the door wide open, he grandly gestures into the darkness. "After you."

"Why don't you go ahead first," Blumiere is quick to respond. Dimentio grins back.

"No, I insist."

Timpani sighs, pushing past them both. Mario looks between the two, before following Timpani into the house. 

* * *

**Bowser's Castle**

"So, not only are you telling me that the cake plan failed, but also that we're stuck in some kind of weirdo dimension with no way of getting out?!" Bowser roars at Kamek, his magikoopa advisor. Right now, he is standing in front of his throne, scowling and stomping his foot furiously.

"We're not entirely sure that the cake plan failed, your nastiness," Kamek says, attempting to soothe Bowser, "we just haven't heard back from our intel yet."

Bowser, mighty king of koopas, was not soothed at all. "You idiot! We know the plan failed, because the cake was stolen before it could even be delivered!!" he roars, stomping his foot once more. 

"Sire, the Koopalings are...tough. No doubt they'll be able to kidnap the princess!" 

"Is that supposed to reassure me? Even if they did manage to kidnap Peach, it's not like I can go get her! This is the worst birthday...month ever."

"Sire, I told you, you can only have birthdays ONCE a year-"

Bowser growls, a fireball forming in his mouth. Any other koopa would have fled, but Kamek, being a much tougher sort, merely stammers, "N-n-never mind, your grouchiness."

* * *

**Unknown Area #2**

....

.......

....

O'Chunks jolts to awareness in less than a second, leaping to his feet and swirling in all directions. There's Nastasia, lying on the ground several feet away from him. He rushes to her, and starts shaking her gently.

"Nastasia! Wake up!"

...

....

She's in a small room-no, not a room, a cage. She's trapped. Then, a figure looms over her. She remembers this. The count is standing over her cage, about to let her out. Then-

"What are you doing?" another voice calls, before the figure slowly approaches. "You're about to let a dangerous criminal out!"

It's Timpani, standing next to the count with her hands intertwined with his. 

"You shouldn't do that," Timapni continues, bending down to stare Nastasia directly in the eyes. "It'll give her the wrong impression... She might even think that you're in  _love_ with her!"

The count laughs mockingly.

"No," she whispers, "please just let me out, please!"

....

.......

"asia! Nastasia!"

Blearily, she opens her eyes to see O'Chunks looming over her. "Thank goodness yer alright!" O'Chunks exclaims, standing back up with a relieved expression. "You were...well, crying out in your sleep."

Nastasia pushes herself into a standing position. "I doubt that," she lies, and O'Chunks shrugs but says nothing else. _Sometimes_ , he thinks,  _it's better to let things go._

 

* * *

**Princess Peach's Castle**

**Outside**

Mimi stuck her head into a bush. "I can't find anyone!" she yells, knowing that Peach is literally standing right next to her.

"Do you really have to yell?" the princess asks.

Mimi, pulling herself out of the shrub, quickly transforms into an exact duplicate of the princess. In a falsetto voice, she mimics Peach. "Do you really have to yell?" 

"I don't sound like that!" 

Mimi replies, as Princess Peach, "I don't sound like that!", her voice even more whiny. 

Turning back into herself, Mimi sighs. "How big is your garden, anyway? I feel like we've been walking for  _years_."

"Not that big. Once we get past this line of trees you should be able to see the fence." 

This gives Mimi a spring in her step. Dashing past Peach, she stops at the tree line. "Wow! Peach! There's a giant cake here!" 

Picking up the pace, Princess Peach hurries over to see...a giant two-layered pink cake. "Woah," she breathes, before, something catches her attention. All around the base of the second cake are deep indents, as though some giant had come along and poked their fingers six times into the cake. 

"Just looking at it makes me gain five pounds," Mimi jokes, trying to pay attention to the fact that not twenty feet beyond the cake is nothing but empty void.

"Looks like someone ate most of the decorations too," she notices. "There's only a small blue patch of icing still there."

The cake begins to wobble, as if reacting to Mimi's earlier comment. 

"Wait..." Peach gasps, "there's someone in there!" Mimi looks at her skeptically.

"Are you sure about-"

Before she can finish speaking, a being bursts out of the cake, landing on the ground with a thud. 

 _It's clearly some kind of koopa_ , Mimi thinks,  _but like, not as big as Bowser? It only kind of looks like him._

The weird koopa standing in front of them only stands a little taller than Peach, but their massive amount of hair gives them an extra few inches.

"You're...you're Bowser's son?" Peach gasps. The koopa makes a so-so motion.

"Not really," he admits. Looking around, he suddenly stands stock still, clearly in shock. "...."

"Who are you?" Mimi demands.

"He's...Ludwig, right? What are you doing here?"

Turning back to them, the koopaling scowls. "What do you think? King Bowser had the  _bright idea_ to reuse an old plan that barely worked the first time around! Why else would me and my siblings be doing here?"

"Where are they?" Peach questions, and for a brief moment, Ludwig's expression wobbles slightly, before settling into a disdainful scowl. 

"Those amateurs don't even know what they're doing half the time, so of course they got spotted and had to book it. The toad guards are so painfully slow that even Morton Jr. could have easily escaped."

* * *

**Toadily's Castle**

**Dungeon**

"How long is this hallway?" grouched Toadily, the top half of his pixel eyes disappearing as he 'scowled.'

"It does feel like we've been walking for hours," Koopera admits, "but none of us have watches and we can't see outside, so who knows?"

"At least it's safe," Luigi mumbles to himself.

As soon as he says this, he feels a shudder of dread roll down his back. 


	10. Famous Last Words

**Toadily's Castle**

 

"Wha!" Luigi shrieks, flattening himself against the ground, barely missing getting an enormous fireball to the face. It hits Toadily straight on, but, instead of burning him, the toad merely shrinks to half his size. 

Ahead of them, Koopera, retreated into her shell, is trying to figure out the best timing to hit the switch on the other side of a pit of magma. It would be an easy straight shot, if not for the fact that lava bubbles keep bursting out, leaping into the air before plummeting back down into the pool below. 

"You can do it Koopera!" Toadily cheers, his newly acquired smaller stature helping him avoid the fire blasts that were being, well,  _fired_ from an unknown location ahead of them.

Steeling herself Koopera shoots herself across the pit, hitting the blue switch before flying back to the other side. With the sound of ripping paper, the top section of the pit falls off, revealing a bridge underneath. 

All of them rush across, mindful of the lava bubbles, which are undeterred by the presence of a _solid barrier_.

(Sometimes life just doesn't make sense.)

"Look!" Koopera shouts, "A door!"

Looking up, Luigi sees that there is, in fact, a large, red, pixel door ahead of them. All they have to do is...run past a line of angry Chain Chomps. "How are we supposed to get past that?" he yelps, narrowly avoiding a rather slowly moving Bullet Bill.

"Wait, I've got it!" Toadily shrieks, pulling out what looks like a yellow star. Instantly, he begins sparkling every single color of the rainbow, while a catchy 8-bit song starts playing. Quickly, he runs towards the Chains Chomps, and when he comes into contact with the Chomps, they vanish in a poof of pixel smoke. 

"Come on!" he shouts, and the two of them rush to catch up. 

It takes all of their strength combined to wrench open the large door, a feat not made easier by the large (albeit a bit slow) Bullet Bills. 

Once they manage to open the door, all of them fall on top of each other in a pile. "The door!" Luigi shouts, and Koopera scrambles up and slams the door behind them. 

 

It takes a few moments for everyone to catch their breaths. "Whew," Toadily gasps, "that was close." Both of them stand up, and Luigi brushed off imaginary lint from his overalls. 

"Ummm....where are we?" Koopera asks. 

They're standing in a small grey room, with nothing but another green door on the other side. "This is kind of depressing," Luigi says, and Koopera nods. 

"Yeah, there's nothing in here." 

"Well, we might as well keep going on." Toadily pipes up.  

 "Might as well."


	11. Dialogue and Explanations

**Unknown Area**

**Mysterious House**

The inside of the house isn't much better than the outside, Timpani thinks to herself, and from the expression on Mario and Blumiere's faces, they also agree. The walls have patches of wallpaper, but most of it has been torn off, revealing rotting wood walls underneath. The air smells of dust and mold, as well as a third scent that can only be described as 'death.'

Dimentio doesn't seem bothered by the buildup of dust covering every surface, or the fact that there are literal holes in the floorboards. "Seems like Robertoad is here...That's odd."

"Robertoad? Is he...dangerous?" Timpani asks. Dimentio shrugs.

"Not particularly. But he is rather good at hiding."

Blumiere, in the middle of inspecting a wardrobe, turns to Dimentio and sharply says, "Why did you mention him, then?"

Dimentio, looking at the former count as though the latter was a half-wit, he says, "Because Robertoad is the one with the key to the city." 

"Is this Nihil's magic?" Timpani asks, as Mario nods beside her. Dimentio's mask frowns.

"Without a single doubt." 

"Do you know what he plans on doing with that power?" Timpani asks, and they all look at Dimentio, who merely shrugs. 

"He won't be able to do  _that_ much with it, not without outside help. And the likelihood of that happening is nonexistent. Of course, even with that limitation, he'll probably as powerful as...a Chaos Heart cut in fourths, like a slice of bread taken from an entire loaf." 

Mario goes back to looking underneath the various couches and chairs scattered around the room. Under one of the dressers, he spots a small white button, which he immediately presses. 

There is a clicking noise, and then a rumbling sound coming from the next room.

Dimentio's eyes light up. "Aha, that must be it. You've found the entrance!"

* * *

**Princess Peach's Castle**

**Gardens**

The blue haired koopa with the single sharp fang could have been considered fearsome, if not for that fact that parts of his hair is covered in mounds of pink frosting. It  _is_ rather nice hair, Mimi thinks, although the shape is eccentric at best and downright maniacal at worst.

"So..." Peach begins awkwardly, "do you happen to know why everything is so...messed up? Is this...Bowser's work?"

Looking at both of them with a flat expression, the koopa says, "You really think King D-Bowser would do this? All he cares about is capturing you and destroying those stupid plumbers."

"Hey!" Mimi shouts, using her shapeshifting abilities to tower over Ludwig, "Stop being such a jerk, pretty-boy!"

(Ludwig, about to say something, stops with a gobsmacked look on his face. Princess Peach sighs into a gloved hand. _Typical Mimi_ , she thinks,  _always having a thing for "bad boys."_ )

Mimi, not noticing the expression on the other two, continues angrily with, "Everything's all messed up and you just admitted that you were going to sneak in and kidnap Peach and stuff! What kind of weirdo are you anyway?!"

"It's not like _I_ care about kidnapping the princess! King D- Lord Bower, has his obsession with her, and the brat still think she's his  _mother_ , but it's not like I can refuse an order from  _the king of koopas,_ and I don't care enough to protest either!" Ludwig shouts back, hair bristling like a cornered cat.

Taking a deep breath, the princess bellows (in her most unlady-like voice,) "SHUT UP EVERYONE!"

The two others stop arguing, turning to stare at her wide-eyed. Mimi shrinks down to her regular height, and Ludwig's hair has already started to flatten.

Peach coughs into her hand, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that. But really, is this the best time to be fighting?"

Cowed, both Ludwig and Mimi shake their heads.

"Now," Princess Peach says, "how did you avoid being captured when your siblings were?"

 

_Flashback_

In a chaotic castle, the only true sanctuary for Ludwig is in his own room. It's here where he writes his genius plans, composes his own original music or simply rest away from the annoyances of his family.

The one downfall of being a genius, however, is that they must spend hours on end perfecting their craft. The night before the mission was to take place, he had been scribbling down invention ideas at his desk. Time got away with him, and after a brief nap he realized he was...not where he was supposed to be.

_End Flashback_

Mimi scoffs. "Couldn't you just say you slept in? It would have been a lot simpler."


	12. Safe at Shore

_"It's not your fault. You were set up to fail. What you needed was...another player added to the mix. Actually, I think I can make you perfect for that role."_

* * *

**Unknown Area**

**Mysterious House**

The 'entrance' turns out to be a regular wooden door attached to the wall in the other room. 

"This is it?" Blumiere scoffs. "We could have easily just walked into this room without needed to press any buttons. Were you trying to stall us?" 

"Wait..." Timpani says, her brow furrowing in concentration. "I don't remember seeing the entrance to  _this_ room before. Was this what you meant, Dimentio?"

Making a so-so notion, Dimentio explains blandly, "Sort of. The button didn't make anything appear out of nothing, it just flipped it. Same with this door right here." Knocking on the wood, he continues with, "It was in the third dimension, and now it's in the second dimension. As for the door that lead to this room, well...I have no idea where it came from."

Something about this comment sits uncomfortably in Mario's mind, but he can't quite figure out why it bothers him.

While traveling and collecting all the Pure Hearts, he was able to do so in part by the ability he had been gifted-the power to move in-between dimensions. This sort of power has given to him when he proved that he was the hero of prophecy, although, now thinking about it, the 'test' really involved him finding a pixl shaped like a hand. Anyone could have done that. 

But does Dimentio have the same powers? 

Shaking his head, as well as the thought out of his mind, Mario focuses more on the task ahead.

 

The room they are in isn't much bigger than the one they were previously in, and is furnished almost exactly the same way; two couches face each other on a well-worn carpet, walls covered in peeling paint-one of the walls holding a rather large mirror coated in a fine layer of dust. 

Dimentio opens the door, and the rest of them traipse after him. 

If anyone had looked at the mirror when Dimentio had passed it, they would have noticed that he cast a very odd reflection, but none of them happened to see it, not even the magician himself.

* * *

 

**Unknown Area**

**Toadily's Castle**

It takes a few moments for everyone to get their bearings after that insane hallway of death. Toadily, now shrunk to half his height, seems even less confident that he had been before. 

"Another hit," he whimpers, "and I'll be done for."

Both Koopera and Luigi share confused glances. "Is your HP that low?" she asks gently, patting Toadily on his mushroom hat? head?

Whatever it is, it  feels weird under her hand. Kind of blocky, and a little bit sharp. Not sharp enough to cut paper, but still enough to give a strange pinching sensation.  

Toadily, however, looks confused. "HP? What's that? No, everyone's like this. Get hit once, you shrink. Get hit twice, you're dead. You mean your world is different?" 

"Everyone has a different amount of HP, also known as Health Points. If you get hurt, you can eat something and it will help you regain HP. Sleeping also works as well." Luigi explains, fidgeting slightly. "There are a lot of theories about why this is...well, the Professor told me about one of his friends that's researching it...but no one really knows how it works."

"You know a professor?" Koopera asks, and Luigi nods shakily. "Y-yes. Um, Professor E.Gadd, I met him when...well he helped me save Mario from King Boo."

Looking more interested, Koopera exclaims, "Woah, so you're that Luigi! My little bro wouldn't stop talking about you, he wants to be a ghost hunter too, and hearing how the Professor actually had an apprentice made him even more excited..."

Now putting her head in her hands, Koopera's mood turns from excited to dejected.

"Koopers...last time I saw him I yelled at him for using my hairbrush. What if...I didn't know...what if he didn't..." Her shoulders begin to shake slightly. "What if his game ended, and the last thing I said to him was to yell at him?"

Luigi stands frozen, before awkwardly patting her on the shell. "It's going to be okay, Koopera. It's scary when...every time Mario leaves on one of his adventures, especially if he leaves without telling me, I worry that he'll never come back. But right now we can't do anything about this. All we can do is keep moving forward."

Koopera looks back up at him, and squeezes his other hand tightly once, before letting go. "Thanks Luigi. I...guess you aren't so bad at giving speeches after all."

Toadily nods furiously, pixel head moving up and down in a jerky fashion. "You said you came here from another world, right? Maybe your brother is still there!"

Wiping her hand across her eyes, Koopera nods. "You guys ready to go?" 

"Not really." Toadily confesses.

"Yeah, me neither. But I guess we have no choice."


End file.
